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DR de RE Os a5) ARR RNS ac ee ea Me fe MARINE REVIEW. [July 10 ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION OF POWER FOR NAVY YARDS. BY WILLIAM S. ALDRICH.* Electricity is being introduced into manufacturing establishments at an accelerating rate of progress. At first used for shop and office light- ing, later for small motor service from the lighting circuits, it has now come to be the recognized agent for the transmission and distribution ot power in almost all industrial operations. There are very few new fac- tories, mills and ship yards where it is not the chief means so employed. In many of them it is designed to make this the sole system for all power distribution about the works. Meanwhile the rehabilitation, the modern- izing of old establishments goes on apace. Costly and cumbersome belt transmissions are taken out to make way for the electric system, affording better shop lighting and ventilation and clear overhead room for traveling cranes. Fixed overhead shafting and pulleys are replaced by flexible wires and portable electric motors. For almost all kinds of machine work, beyond a certain size, motor-driven tools are now taken to the work rather than move the work about to the several fixed tools. Elec- tric power is thus supplied, in the most economic manner, where most needed, and used only when required. The inevitable constant losses in any power transmission are reduced to the lowest value in the electric system. The maximum output is secured, on whatever basis it be reck- oned--per day, per man, per machine or per square foot of floor space. Economy of manufacturing is guaranteed by increasing the quantity and enhancing the quality of the product, while decreasing the cost of pro- duction. If these, among many other well-known advantages of the electric drive have been recognized by private concerns, to what extent is it likely that they will become determining factors in the power equip- ment for government work, as in navy yards? } ; A navy yard necessarily combines the work of a private ship yard and a manufacturing establishment, on the one hand; and, on the other, that of a naval base and repair station. This composite nature of its work is subject to wide and frequently extreme variations. It must have equip- ment on hand and men within reach for all classes of work in marine engineering and naval construction. To secure the highest efficiency of management and greatest economy of maintenance, both workmen and tools should be kept quite regularly employed. This implies steady pro- ductive work on the part of the government akin to that of private con- cerns. Moreover, to meet the demands of naval repair work and the exigencies of war when they arise, there must be within easy reach a certain reserve of men, tools and power facilities. ; : The economics of production dictate one type of power installation and management. Naval repairs seem to require quite another type. We shall show, however, that to secure the highest efficiency (using this word in the broadest engineering sense), electric-power transmission serves the same ultimate purpose in naval repair work that it does in manufac- turing. The latter is a steady load on any power plant, the former an occasional one. The large and constant mechanical friction losses due to shafting transmission are ever to be reckoned with. This is the case, whether the plant is busy or running light, whether it is manufacturing or engaged largely in repair work. It is the special province of the elec- tric system to reduce all such losses to a minimum. It occasions no lost power in transmission or distribution during the idle periods of in- termittent and repair work. It is ever ready to meet any demand for increased power and'extension in any direction owing to the extreme flexibility of the system. These advantages, therefore--the ability at any time to work machines and tools to the limit of production at any location desired and to any extent within the capacity of the power plant--make the electric drive an ideal system, as well for steady work as for emergen- cies and repairs. The naval events of our late war with Spain clearly showed the im- portance of the time element in preparation for service afloat. Ordinarily, men and material, tools and facilities may be had for the asking or for the advertising, especially for government work. The qualifications of the men required special investigation at such a time. Materials and tools not found in stock among private concerns could not be obtained when most needed in fitting out work. The power facilities and productive capacity of our navy yards, with the old systems of belting and shafting transmissions, could not be increased on demand. The time element is an equally important factor in each one of the above necessities. For successful navy-yard work on such occasions as these, the interests of the public service demand the highest efficinecy throughout. A state of war brings about conditions in navy-yard work similar to those found in private establishments in seasons of rush orders and at the height of the busy season. The inability to meet these conditions in the former case scarcely elicited any public comment. Similar inability in manufacturing work would result in loss of further orders from the same source. It is the unexpected, the condition of maximum demand, which must be pro- vided for, in either case. During the spring and summer of 1898, such navy-yard work as was done in line of production, overhauling, repairing and fitting out of vessels for the regular and auxiliary naval service was almost without exception accomplished at the old regulation or standard gait of all navy-yard work--at a pace established by a third of a century of peace. How could it be accelerated? With the very best intentions what could be done in the matter of expediting the work, with the ac- cumulated traditions of that golden age for the navy-yard mechanic? Even those workmen who did not consider it a crime to' speed up their machines could not, if they wished, meet the demand for the increased capacity with fixed speeds of main line and counter-shafting overhead. Neither could they get all of the power which they might require at any point and at any time to meet the conditions for maximum all-round efficiency in the execution of their work. The element of time is destined to be of supreme importance. This is now the case in all of the arts of production, It is coming to be the case in the arts of destruction. Conditions may arise in either situation where it becomes the deciding factor. That 'establishment which: can guarantee delivery of its products. gets the business. "The nation whose war vessels, before going into service, can be put through the usual navy- yard regime in the shortest possible time has an'enviable strategic ad- vantage. With the manufacturer it is a question of commanding the *Mr. Aldrich is a member of the American Society of Naval B article is from the Journal of that society, e oP Temnyetey ane thie trade, of accepting and filling orders, or of losing the business to those who can. With the government it is a question of commanding the seas, by quickly getting its vessels ready for service, or of losing the command to that nation which can and does have its vessels ready for war. Even the peaceful operations of a navy yard frequently require work to be exe- cuted by the quick-dispatch method. Were this not the case, slow- moving shafting and slow-speed machines would ever seem to suit the navy-yard mechanic, regardless of how and why they have now been discarded by the best, the most successful private establishments. If the efficiency of electric-power transmission, economy at the coal pile, in- creased output at decreased cost of production, have decided the private concern in its favor, these are none the less helpful factors toward decid- ing the case for its introduction in government work. The engineering work of the government calls for the highest efficiency,'in whatever field and from whatever point of view it may be considered. In the navy yard it is not simply the question of the effi- ciency of power transmission that is enhanced by the adoption of the electric drive; it results in increased efficiency of workman, of tool, of the whole process of production. Its inherent advantages for this field out- weigh all of the old debatable questions of shafting efficiency and of coal economy. When work is required by the government to be done it must be done. That system which secures its execution in the most efficient and expeditious manner must commend itself for adoption. Facilities for rapid repairs at the navy yard constitute as much an element of sea power as provisions for rapid fire in action, and are to be similarly reckoned with. Efficiency, as it is understood today, in the larger engineering sense, not only includes but demands expedition. This is one of those engineering terms which has lately expanded in its meaning and value. The simple statement of the school books defines efficiency as the numeri- cal ratio of the work done to the power available. The comprehensive meaning of efficiency in relation to naval power is thus summed up by Capt. F. E. Chadwick, U. S. N., the commanding officer of Admiral Sampson's flagship, in reference to the service rendered his fleet in Cuban waters by the United States naval repair ship Vulcan: "No one can understand the value of such an adjunct who has not had to look around for ships to go on duty, the long list of waiters for repairs or overhauling was sometimes heartbreaking; a full third of such a fleet as ours had at all times been counted off as unavailable for such reasons and others." What manufacturing establishment, with a complement of men and a trained personnel, could pay wages, much less get out orders and keep its business, with a full third of its material equipment at all times to be counted off as unavailable? These conditions, exasperating enough in times of war, are none the less likely to arise in seasons of nominal peace, and of unprecedented prosperity throughout the country. Such a season is the present. Perhaps it may be the case, or may sometimes be proven to be the case, that the most noted living steel-maker has correctly judged of the United States in saying that it cannot be conquered, so long _as its integrity is maintained, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the lakes to the gulf, with its almost unbounded resources of men and ma- 'terial, and its industries now so fully organized to develop both to the highest degree of productive capacity. The use of electricity in navy yards is destined to be much farther reaching than merely to provide a more 'efficient system of power trans- mission. From all considerations in which it may be viewed it may be said, without a dissenting argument, that its introduction will inure to that more comprehensive efficiency in times of peace as well as of war. It will have an indirect strategic importance not yet tested in action, but now so thoroughly proven in the exigencies of business and the keen competition of trade. The efficiency of production now secured in manu- facturing work spells economy. The efficiency of service to be secured by its introduction in navy yards will spell readiness. Dollars constitute the measure of value for business. Strategic advantage constitutes the measure of value for sea power.. The manufacturer asks: Will it in- crease dividends? The government asks: Will it increase sea power? The technical discussion of this subject is not new. Nor is it likely that the last word will soon be spoken in such a field as the industrial applications of electricity. A few of the principles and advantages of electric driving established in private concerns may seem inapplicable to the navy-yard power problem. On the other hand, there are special ad- vantages accruing to its use in such a place that would certainly not decide its introduction in manufacturing work. It is not to be inferred that electric-power transmission should be introduced in the navy yard at any cost. But, for the purpose for which a navy yard exists, it may be said that no system of power transmission has yet been developed pos- sessing sO many advantages and so few disadvantages as the electric system. It is thoroughly adapted to meet the largest variety of functions of this class of engineering work. For a limited class of mechanical movements, chiefly reciprocating, and for certain operations, as pressing, forging, flanging, riveting and caulking, steam, compressed air and hydraulic pressure will no doubt continue to be used. The power char- acteristics as well as economic considerations require to be carefully detailed in each and every kind of productive work. To this the navy yard offers no exception. The program for the execution of its work should in no wise be influenced by the question of power transmission. The reverse should be the case. The system of transmission should be determined by, rather than itself determine, the conditions for most effi- cient and economic production. The latter involve the area to be served by work or portable tools, or both at the same time; the grouping of de- partments; the arrangement of machinery; the style, type and size of machines and tools; the number and kind of operations to be performed simultaneously ; the cutting and other operative speeds; the character of loads and their variations; the kind of work to be executed and materials to be employed. The system of power transmission adopted should not in the least interfere with the natural development of any one of the pre- ceding elements of production. It should, if possible, enhance their rela- tive: or absolute importance. Electric power in, ship yards has proven its value for this class of work, especially during the past four years. It has been severely tested in everyday work, and not found wanting. One of the special reasons for